I may be in the wrong place but I am considering buying a .260 Remington (or possibly a 25-06). I would be using it as my primary rifle for whitetails. I had been using a .30-06 for years but last year I switched to a .308 when a friend bought me a stainless .308 as a gift. I have shot 2 bucks with the .308 with good results (shot a bear too but with poor results due to a bad bullet choice). For no good reason, I have become enamored with the idea of hunting deer with a light kicking, flat shooting, smaller bullet. I was about to buy a .260 Rem but just saw that my intended load of 120 grain Barnes TTSX is 200 fps slower out of a .260 than the 130 grain TTSX out of a .308. Now, I am questioning the benefit of a .260.
The obvious benefit is that I like to only shoot one load out of my rifles so I don’t have to mess with the scopes too much. I have been shooting 150 TTSX out of the .308 and I get just about the same point of impact out of a 165 grain Accubond. I know that the sectional density would be higher in a .260 with 120 grain bullet than a .308 in 130 grains but Barnes seem to penetrate plenty without much regard for SD. Also, the larger diameter would hit harder. I also know that the .260 would have a higher ballistic coefficient but the added 200 fps muzzle velocity would take quite a distance to overcome. Most of my shooting is close (inside 100 yards) and would likely never exceed 300 yards. Is there any advantage within 300 yards to the .260 with 120 grain TTSX versus a .308 with a 130 grai TTSX? Less recoil maybe?
Thanks
Last edited by Theeck; 12/17/17.
